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Watching Baseball, Seeing Philosophy
The Great Thinkers at Play on the Diamond
Raymond Angelo Belliotti

ISBN 978-0-7864-3303-2
notes, bibliography, index
198pp. softcover 2008

Description
There are uncanny connections between nine baseball greats and the great thinkers of the West. This book offers a very practical application of Western philosophy by examining these icons of American sport and culture.

The intensity and single-mindedness of Ted Williams breathes life into Camus’ Sisyphus; Billy Martin’s maniacal competitiveness recalls Niccolò Machiavelli’s take on politics, which he characterized as a zero-sum game; the homespun philosophy of Satchel Paige echoes the wisdom of Marcus Aurelius; and the many facets of Joe DiMaggio’s personality cry out for the resolution that Nietzsche’s doctrine of perspectivism might have given.

Also covered are the connections between Joe Torre and Aristotle; Jackie Robinson and Antonio Gramsci; Mickey Mantle and St. Thomas Aquinas; John Franco and William James; and Jose Canseco and Immanuel Kant.

About the Author
Raymond Angelo Belliotti is a distinguished professor and chair of philosophy at the State University of New York at Fredonia, where he received the chancellor’s award for excellence in teaching. 









Table of Contents & Excerpts

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